Schloss Hartheim, Renaissance castle and memorial museum in Alkoven, Austria.
Schloss Hartheim is a Renaissance castle featuring four corner towers, an inner courtyard, and multiple exhibition spaces throughout its rooms. The building's stone structure and traditional layout create the setting for displays and memorial exhibitions housed within its spaces.
The castle was originally built as a Renaissance residence, but its story is dominated by the period from 1940 to 1944 when it served a horrific purpose. After the war, the building was preserved and eventually transformed into a memorial site.
The name Hartheim appears in records as early as 1130, when a family of that name served the bishops of Passau. Since 2003 the castle has housed the memorial and the exhibition "Value of Life"; the rooms used for the killings are included as authentic sites.
The memorial rooms and the "Value of Life" exhibition opened on 7 May 2003, and the rooms used for the killings are included as authentic sites. The castle stands in the Eferding Basin, about 3 km south of the Danube and some 14 km from Linz. Visitors reach the rooms of the former killing centre on the ground floor of the east wing.
The castle holds detailed administrative records from the earliest period of its darkest chapter, allowing historians and visitors to understand the scale and mechanics of what occurred. These documents provide one of the most thorough documentations of this dark history.
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